8 March 2020
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Brief news in photos
Cork Institute of Technology’s (CIT) Innovation Week 2020 has again given a platform to 35 events and talks throughout the week. These events were held across the 4 CIT campuses, Cork School of Music, Crawford College of Art & Design, NMCI and Bishopstown. The events were diverse and included talks about the links between entrepreneurship and sports and featured Alan Bennett (Cork City) Keith Ricken (Cork U20) and Cliodhna Sargent (Irish Hockey). During the week many entrepreneurs shared their entrepreneurial journeys with CIT students. The final event of Innovation Week was the hugely competitive CIT Prize for Innovation where prize money of €10,000 was awarded to students with the most innovative ideas and the CIT APPrentice competition.
Amongst the 45 student business ideas (consisting of 170 students) competing for CIT’s Prize for Innovation was KomfoRoo, which replicates kangaroo care by stimulating senses for premature babies, a smart road surface paint, and smart pods to increase the productivity of travelling executives.
The competition is sponsored by the Cork Local Enterprise Offices, who have supported student entrepreneurship in CIT for the last 18 years. There were 45 entries to this year’s competition from across the various CIT faculties. The winners were a group of third year year mechanical and biomedical engineering students whose product SightScan is a wearable eye tracking device enhancing the success rate of eye surgeries to restore normal vision in children. The team scooped the top prize of €4,000 and the coveted title of CIT Entrepreneur of the Year.
The APPrentice Competition, sponsored by the School of Business and Hincks Centre, allows students to submit their ideas for a new APP, and work with Business students to design a poster. With a unanimous vote from the judges, the winner of CIT’s APPrentice Competition 2020 was Srinivas Rengarajan, who is pursung a Masters in Data Science and Analytics, with his app idea Garda Emergency. This year’s competition attracted over 120 entries.
Catherine Biggs, Dunmanway and Paul Quigley, Turners cross from Opp Shoppers, a website for all charity shops under the one roof at the Innovation awards for CIT Innovation week.
Pic Darragh Kane
Magda Gaska, Tipperary and Paul MacCarthy, Tralee Filtrex, a micro plastic filtration system for waste water treatment on an industrial scale at the Innovation awards for CIT Innovation week.
Pic Darragh Kane
Winners of Best Pitch Kieran Pyke, Douglas, Padar Keane, Kerry Listroy, Patricia OÕSullivan, Kanirsiveen Kerry, Stephen Moroney, Waterford, Evan Enright, Ballinhassog, Hannah Ahern, Grenagh, Andrew Clarke, Mallow and Darragh Bateman, Douglas from Safe Source, a self cleaning agriculture water trough at the Innovation awards for CIT Innovation week.
Pic Darragh Kane
Aoife McSweeney, Mallow, Brian Galvin, Midelton, Ewart Coghlan, Carrigaline, Tomasz Ozaist, Mill st, Dara O’Brien, Blackrock and Aidan Browne, Newmarket from Resonature who are developing a device to accelerate bone healing by mechanical generated frequency at the Innovation awards for CIT Innovation week.
Pic Darragh Kane
Faustina Sheehan, Abbie O’Sullivan and Rhian Dawkins, Coliste Cholim at the Innovation awards for CIT Innovation week.
Pic Darragh Kane
Mabh McGrath, Risn McCormac and Aisling McGrath, Tipperary in CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory for Innovation Week.
Pic Darragh Kane
Fionn and Casper O’Leary, Ballintemple with Colm Maye from Blackrock Castle Observatory taking an early look at the rising moon in the CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory for CITs Innovation Week.
Pic Darragh Kane
Tara and Ivan Coleman from Ballinlough in the planetarium on a tour of CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory for CITs Innovation Week
Pic DARRAGH KANE
Lena Oskwarek and Anna Kulig, Mallow on a tour of CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory for CIT Innovation Week
Pic DARRAGH KANE
Mary Crilly, Director of the Sexual Violence Centre in Cork speaking with CIT Students Brianna O’Connor, Glencar Kerry, Sarah Keating, Ballincollig and Dervla Murphy, Mill st at a Charities Hackathon in CIT for Innovation Week.
The event was set up to help local charities through the work of students in the development of ideas to better society and encourage collaboration.
Pic DARRAGH KANE
Mary Crilly, Director of the Sexual Violence Centre in Cork speaking with CIT Students Brianna O’Connor, Glencar Kerry, Sarah Keating, Ballincollig and Dervla Murphy, Mill st at a Charities Hackathon in CIT for Innovation Week.
The event was set up to help local charities through the work of students in the development of ideas to better society and encourage collaboration.
Pic DARRAGH KANE
